Packaged information systems

ABSTRACT

An embodiment of this invention relates to an intelligent lighting device that can receive signals and change the illumination conditions as a result of the received signals. The lighting device can change hue, saturation, and brightness as a response to received signals. One example of using such a lighting device is to display particular colors as a response to certain events. Among others, embodiments may include vehicle lighting systems, an information cube, a back lighting system for a display panel, and an indicator of a condition of a package.

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of thefollowing U.S. provisional patent applications:

U.S. Provisional Patent Application entitled “Intelligent Indicators,”application Ser. No. 60/252,004 filed Nov. 20, 2000;

U.S. Provisional Patent Application entitled “LCD Color ChangingScreen,” application Ser. No. 60/262,022, filed Jan. 16, 2001;

U.S. Provisional Patent Application entitled “LED Based Lighting Systemsand Methods for Vehicles” application Ser. No. 60/268,259 filed Feb. 13,2001;

U.S. Provisional Patent Application entitled “Information Systems”application Ser. No. 60/262,153 filed Jan. 17, 2001; and

U.S. Provisional Patent Application entitled “Systems and Methods forDisplaying Information” application Ser. No. 60/296,219 filed Jun. 6,2001.

This application also claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §120 as acontinuation-in-part (CIP) of co-pending U.S. Non-provisionalapplication Ser. No. 09/669,121, filed Sep. 25, 2000, entitled“Multicolored LED Lighting Method and Apparatus”, which is acontinuation of U.S. Ser. No. 09/425,770, filed Oct. 22, 1999, now U.S.Pat. No. 6,150,774, which is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 08/920,156,filed Aug. 26, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,016,038.

This application also claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §120 as acontinuation-in-part (CIP) of the following U.S. Non-provisionalApplications:

Ser. No. 09/215,624, filed Dec. 17, 1998 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,528,954,entitled “Smart Light Bulb”;

Ser. No. 09/213,607, filed Dec. 17, 1998 now abandoned, entitled“Systems and Methods for Sensor-Responsive Illumination”;

Ser. No. 09/213,189, filed Dec. 17, 1998 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,459,919,entitled “Precision Illumination”;

Ser. No. 09/213,581, filed Dec. 17, 1998, entitled “KineticIllumination”;

Ser. No. 09/213,540, filed Dec. 17, 1998 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,720,945,entitled “Data Delivery Track”;

Ser. No. 09/333,739, filed Jun. 15, 1999, entitled “Diffuse IlluminationSystems and Methods”;

Ser. No. 09/742,017, filed Dec. 20, 2000 now abandoned, entitled“Lighting Entertainment System”, which is a continuation of U.S. Ser.No. 09/213,548, filed Dec. 17, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,166,496;

This application 09/989,747 is a continuation in part of Ser. No.09/815,418, filed Mar. 22, 2001 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,577,080, entitled“Lighting Entertainment System”, which also is a continuation of U.S.Ser. No. 09/213,548, filed Dec. 17, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,166,496;and

Ser. No. 09/626,905, filed Jul. 27, 2000 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,340,868,entitled “Lighting Components”, which is a continuation of U.S. SerialNo. 09/213,659, filed Dec. 17, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,211,626.

This application also claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §120 of each ofthe following U.S. Provisional Applications, as at least one of theabove-identified copending U.S. Non-provisional Applications similarlyis entitled to the benefit of at least one of the following ProvisionalApplications:

Ser. No. 60/071,281, filed Dec. 17, 1997, entitled “Digitally ControlledLight Emitting Diodes Systems and Methods”;

Ser. No. 60/068,792, filed Dec. 24, 1997, entitled “Multi-ColorIntelligent Lighting”;

Ser. No. 60/078,861, filed Mar. 20, 1998, entitled “Digital LightingSystems”;

Ser. No. 60/079,285, filed Mar. 25, 1998, entitled “System and Methodfor Controlled Illumination”; and

Ser. No. 60/090,920, filed Jun. 26, 1998, entitled “Methods for SoftwareDriven Generation of Multiple Simultaneous High Speed Pulse WidthModulated Signals”.

All patents, patent applications, papers, publications, and otherdocuments referenced herein are hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to light emitting diode devices. In particularthis invention relates to lighting devices that are configured toprovide information.

2. Description of Related Art

Transmitting and receiving signals virtually instantaneously throughoutthe world has become a common event Many devices are available forreceiving and possibly re-transmitting signals received from computernetworks and other networks. The user interface for reviewing thesesignals can take many forms including, but not limited to, phones,computers, laptop computers, handheld devices, and stand-alone devices.The development of intelligent light sources, as described in U.S. Pat.No. 6,016,038, has also transformed lighting and lighting control inrecent years.

Information abounds through access to the World Wide Web and thisinformation can be received and displayed in many ways on many devices.A computer is one of the primary portals for receiving, viewing andinteracting with much of this information. Hand held devices are alsobecoming increasingly popular for receiving, viewing and interactingwith information. The type of information displayed on these devices isalso virtually endless. Information such as, but not limited to,financial, weather, sales data can all be downloaded and displayed. Thedownload devices generally allow the user to interact with the data andperform transactions. Gaming software is also becoming a popular on-lineactivity where a person can interact with the gaming software from aremote location. Gaming is also very quickly becoming an onlineexperience. Extensions of these games allow two or more users toparticipate in the same game at the same time even when all of the usersare at different locations.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has a program in the mediaarts and sciences named Tangible Media directed by Hiroshi Ishii thathas developed an interface called mediaBlocks that is described inmediaBlocks: Tangible Interfaces for Online Media, Brygg Ullmer andHiroshi Ishii, MIT Media Lab, Published I the Conference Abstracts ofCHI99, May 15-20, 1999, which is incorporated by reference herein. TheTangible Media group has the objective to develop human interfaces usingphysical objects. The physical objects are used to interface withdigital media to make the interface easier to use and to create a lesscomplex interface between man and machine. MediaBlocks is a tangibleinterface for physically capturing, transporting, and retrieving onlinedigital media. For example, a mediaBlock may be placed in a slot next toa white board and the information contained on the white board would bedigitally transferred to the mediaBlock. The mediaBlock could then beplaced in a slot near a printer and the printer would then print theinformation from the white board. This eliminates the complex computerinterfaces that are used today. This project is dedicated to reduce thecomplexity of the computer interface that has become commonplace istoday's work and play environments.

Another paper from the Tangible Media Group, ambeientROOM: IntegratingAmbient Media with Architectural Space, Hiroshi Ishii et. al., TangibleMedia Group, MIT Media Laboratory, Published in the Conference Summaryof CHI98, Apr. 18-23, 1998, discussed the possibilities of ambientcontrols within an office to increase the awareness of the officeworker. In this paper, the authors discuss the sophisticatedcapabilities of humans' ability to process multiple information streams.Humans have an immense capacity for receiving and interpretinginformation that is occurring in the background of the activities inwhich we engage. To take advantage of this capacity, the authors createdambient conditions in an office that corresponded to information beingreceived. For example, the office was equipped with a sound system toprovide subtle background sounds such as the sound of a tropical forest.The volume and density of the activity in the forest sound stream wouldcorrespond to the amount of email or the value of the users stockportfolio. The office was also provided with a lighting pattern on awall that changed when activity in the next room increased.

Accordingly it would be useful to provide a peripheral or addition to astandard device to display information in a way in which the user wouldbe alerted to the information without having to interact with theinterface. It would also be useful to provide an indicator fordisplaying information that would be both decorative and informative.

One area where there is a need for information is in connection withvehicles. Information generated by today's vehicles has increasedtremendously over the typical car of the past. The instrument panel intoday's automobiles and other personal vehicles may resemble an airplanecockpit because of the increased demand for information. This ispartially based on the increase in demand for more information andpartially because the design is appealing. Control systems in thesevehicles are also becoming increasingly complex. To accommodate theincrease in complexity, automakers continue to improve the ergonomicsystem surrounding the driver and passengers. Safety is also paramountand the improved ergonomic system is also designed to reduce driverfatigue and increase his overall awareness to his surroundings.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,803,579 teaches of a white-light lighting device for anautomobile. This lighting device uses a combination of two LEDs toproduce white light to take advantage of the lightweight, energyefficient, reduced heat, and reliability of LEDs as compared toincandescent systems. This system is designed to replace incandescentlighting systems by producing white light for the interior of thevehicle or the rear view mirror assembly.

It would be useful to provide a lighting system for vehicles thatincreased the appeal and design of the vehicle. It would also be usefulto provide a lighting system that could convey information regarding thevehicles performance as well as other information.

Data abounds in today's connected world and converting all of the datainto usable information remains a challenge. The Internet provides aportal to a vast variety of such information including financial,weather, sports and many other types of information. There are alsosoftware programs that generate information such as games, simulators,financial analysis programs and many other software driven applications.During the past several years, technology has provided us with more andmore information every year and more and more devices to retrieve theinformation. We are now a connected world with the ability to receiveand retrieve information from many sources including stationary devicessuch as the desktop computer, gaming platforms, Internet appliances andother stationary devices. We can also retrieve information throughmobile devices such as a mobile phone, personal digital assistants,pagers, gaming devices and other mobile devices. Many such devicesrequire user interactions to retrieve and observe useful information. Itcan be a challenge for any user of these systems to keep up with all ofthe relevant information provided. It would be useful to provide aninformation system to simplify or enhance the receipt of information.

Another area where lighting information systems may be needed is inconnection with liquid crystal displays. A liquid crystal display (LCD)is an electro-optical device used to display digits, characters orimages, commonly used in digital watches, calculators, cellular phones,portable devices and portable computers.

The liquid crystal display contains a liquid crystal material placedbetween a pair of transparent electrodes. The liquid crystal changes thephase of the light passing through it and this phase change can becontrolled by a voltage applied between the electrodes. Liquid crystaldisplays can be formed by integrating a number of liquid crystalpatterns in a display or by using a single liquid crystal plate and apattern of electrodes.

One type of liquid crystal display, those used in digital watches andcalculators, contain a common electrode plane covering one side and apattern of electrodes on the other with a liquid crystal plane betweenthe electrodes. These electrodes can be individually controlled toproduce the appropriate display. Computer displays, however, require fartoo many pixels (typically between 50,000 and several millions) to makethis scheme, in particular its wiring, feasible. The electrodes aretherefore replaced by a number of row electrodes on one side and columnelectrodes on the other side. By applying voltage to one row and severalcolumns the pixels at the intersections are set. This generates therequisite potential to activate the liquid crystal at the intersectionof the two electrodes. This method creates pixels that can be activatedto generate the characters or images.

There are generally two types of LCD displays: passive and activematrix. In a passive matrix display, the pixel fading is controlledthrough the persistence of the display. Putting an active element, suchas a transistor, on the top of each pixel, can slow the fading. This“remembers” the setting of that pixel and is generally referred to as anactive matrix display.

Color-image LCD screens are also available, although more expensive thanthe monochrome versions, and typically used in computer screens or otherdevices where it is desirable to display colored graphics. The coloredscreens are more expensive because of the increased complexity of thesystem. The colored LCD screens operate by generating pixels of red,green and blue light. These colored pixels are close enough, withrespect to the user, that when energized they form colored pixels. Thesesystems may produce a particular color through the liquid crystal orthey may have a filter over the pixel to adjust the color. Oneparticular method of generating a colored LCD screen is to provide abacklight that generates red, green and blue emission in three timesegments. The liquid crystal provided in the screen has a transmittanceof approximately 4% and will allow red, green and blue to pass. A verybright light source is therefore required to generate enough light that4% transmission is acceptable for the screen brightness. Generally, thetiming of the light sources is such that the three colors are on forpredetermined segments of time. For example, the red may be on for thefirst one third of the time segment, the blue may be on for the secondone third of the time segment, and the green may be on for the third onethird of the time segment. Then the pixel is energized at the same timeas the particular color is energized. The liquid crystal is essentiallythe window for the light that is generated in the background. Energizingthe liquid crystal and the light simultaneously will emit a particularcolor. For example, if the pixel is to be red, the liquid crystal isenergized during the first time segment. If a combined color isrequired, such as yellow, the pixel will be energized during the first(red) and third (green) sub-periods. An improved method involving foursub-periods is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 6,115,016 to Yoshihara. Thesecolor-image LCD screens use backlighting to emit the light through theliquid crystal to facilitate a screen capable of projecting colorimages.

Many monochrome-image LCD screens are backlit to provide better contrastbetween the liquid crystal and the background. This is especiallyimportant in the monochrome-image LCD screens because the display isdesigned such that the crystals reflect light that is incident on frontsurface. The liquid crystal may reflect light directly or the liquidcrystal may block light that is reflected by the surface behind thecrystal. As a result, these systems appear almost black when there islimited ambient light irradiating the LCD surface. The display isprimarily reflecting light and if there is no light impinging upon thedisplay there is no light to reflect. An example of this phenomenon iswhen you attempt to view a cellular phone or calculator LCD screen inthe dark and it cannot be read. To eliminate the problems with readingthe screen in low light conditions, these displays are generallyprovided with a backlighting system. This system provides light frombehind the liquid crystal and the energized liquid-crystal blocks thelight when activated.

The backlighting systems generally comprise a flat surface that isbacklit or edge-lit to provide a surface of light behind the LCD panel.The lighting for these panels is generally accomplished throughfluorescent, incandescent or light emitting diode (LED) lighting. Thesurface of light is then blocked by the energized pattern of liquidcrystals providing dark areas where the crystals reside and allowing theareas of non-activated crystals to emit light from the backlit surface.The backlighting systems may come in one of several colors and provideconstant lighting conditions when activated. The choice of color isgenerally selected by the manufacturer to provide high contrast for theimage. For example, many monochrome-image LCD screens use a greenbacklit panel to provide high brightness behind the energized liquidcrystals. Unlike the color-image screens, these screens do not producecolored pixels. The liquid crystal may transmit a small portion of thelight from the back lighting system, however, the back lightingdominates any transmission and the pixel typically appears black orgray.

Another area where information can be conveyed by lighting is in thearea of indicators for packages. Packages carrying virtually anythingcan easily be shipped around the world these days as the transportationand shipping industries continue to grow. Many packages are shippedover-night and many packages are sent through conventional means thatmay take weeks for the package to reach its intended destination. In allof these shipping scenarios, the quality of the product can becompromised without the shipping company or the shipper ever beingaware. The first indication of shipping problems may be from thecustomer and this can end customer relations very quickly.

Packages are monitored for external damage by the shipper and thecustomer. When a customer receives a damaged box, she is automaticallyaware that the contents may also be damaged. The customer may still openthe package but she will likely reserve her right to reject the goods ifthey are damaged. When goods are sensitive to shipping conditions suchas, but not limited to, time, humidity, temperature, orientation,electrical conditions, physical vibration, or physical shock, the goodsmay be damaged due to inadequate handling. In these situations, theshipper may not be aware that the required conditions were met and thecustomer may receive inferior or unusable product as a result. Audibleindicators are available to monitor the condition of perishable foods,see New Food Packaging Technology to Offer Audible Warnings, Asia Pulse,Oct. 11, 2000. There are also glass vials and spring-loaded balls thatare used to show that a shock threshold has been exceeded or that apackage has been turned upside down.

It would be useful to have an intelligent visual indicator indicatingthe shipping conditions of a package. It would also be useful to have anintelligent visual indicator for many other applications.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Illumination methods and systems are provided herein that overcome manyof the drawbacks of conventional systems. In embodiments, methods andsystems are provided for multicolored illumination. In an embodiment,the present invention is an apparatus for providing an efficient,computer-controlled, multicolored illumination device.

In an embodiment of the invention an information system is provided. Theinformation system may include an LED illumination unit for displayingillumination conditions indicative of information. In another embodimentthe LED illumination unit is a stand-alone device, networked device,network appliance, network peripheral, LED device, or an LED device withprocessor. The processor may be a controller, addressable controller,microprocessor, microcontroller, addressable microprocessor, computer,programmable processor, programmable controller, dedicated processor,dedicated controller, computer, laptop computer or other processor.

In an embodiment the illumination device may receive information signalsand the information signals may be used to change the hue, saturation orintensity of the illumination device. The information signals couldcontain information such as financial information, environmentalinformation, computer status information, notification information,email notification information, status information or other information.The information signal may be communicated to the LED illuminationdevice through electromagnetic transmission, radio frequencytransmission, infrared transmission, microwave transmission, acoustictransmission, wire transmission, cable transmission, networktransmission or any other communication transmission. In a particularembodiment, the source of the information in the informationtransmission is from the world wide web (WWW), a database, a network,software, a computer, a computer system or other system. The informationmay also be obtained through a hyperlink or other information transfermechanism.

The information signal may be in the form of lighting control signalsthat are directly readable by an LED illumination device. Theinformation signal may also be in the form other than lighting controlsignals. In an embodiment, the information signal is in the form ofsignals other than lighting control signals and a decoder is provided toconvert the information signal into a lighting control signal. In anembodiment the decoder may be a processor within the illumination deviceor it may be a processor separate from the illumination device. Thedecoder may also be software that is executed by the processor. Theinformation signal may be a digital transmission or it may be an analogtransmission. A digital transmission may be readable by the systemwhereas an analog system may require an analog to digital converter.

The information system may be provided with a user interface. The userinterface may be used to select the information to be displayed by theillumination device. In an embodiment the user interface is a computer,personal digital assistant (PDA), computer peripheral, portableinterface, stand-alone interface, or any other interface.

One embodiment is a method of providing information where an informationsignal is received and the information signal is communicated to an LEDillumination device. The illumination unit may be associated with aninput connection. A processor may be provided to convert the informationsignal into a lighting control signal. The lighting control signals maybe communicated to the illumination control device. The hue, saturation,or intensity (color) may be changed as a result of receiving theinformation signal. The color may represent the information provided inthe information signal. The information in the information signal may befinancial information, environmental information, computer statusinformation, notification information, email notification information,status information or any other information.

In an embodiment, a processor may be provided. The processor may be acontroller, addressable controller, microprocessor, microcontroller,addressable microprocessor, computer, programmable processor,programmable controller, dedicated processor, dedicated controller,computer, laptop computer or other processor.

In an embodiment, an LED illumination device may be provided. The LEDillumination device may comprise at least two LEDs wherein the at leasttwo LEDs produce at least two different spectra; a processor; at leasttwo controllers wherein the controllers independently control powerdelivered to the at least two LEDs; the at least two controllers furthercomprising a signal input wherein the signal input is associated withthe processor; the at least two controllers are responsive to signalscommunicated to the signal input; and a light transmissive materialwherein the LEDs are arranged to illuminate the light transmissivematerial.

The LED illumination device may also be associated with signal inputconnection. An information signal may be communicated to the signalinput connection. The processor may convert the information signal intoan illumination control signal; and the illumination device may changecolor corresponding to the information signal. A second processor mayalso be provided. The second processor may convert the informationsignal to lighting control signals. These lighting control signals maybe communicated to the LED illumination device or an illuminationprocessor associated with the lighting device.

In an embodiment a user interface is provided. The user interface may bea computer, web browser, PDA, portable device, stand-alone device, website, touch screen, LCD screen, plasma screen, laptop computer, or anyother user interface. The user interface may be used to selectinformation to be communicated to the LED illumination device.

One embodiment is a method of converting an information signal into alighting control signal. A user interface may be provided wherein a userselects information to be displayed by an LED illumination device. Aprocessor may also be provided for converting the selected informationinto a lighting control signal and lighting control signal may becommunicated to an output port. The information may be selected from aweb site, web page, hyperlink, computer setting, computer systemsetting, email setting, computer monitor software, monitoring software,computer software or other system.

An embodiment of the invention may take the form of a computerperipheral. Where a computer sends an information signal or a lightingcontrol signal to the peripheral and the peripheral responds by changingto a color that corresponds to the information signal. The peripheralmay have a processor wherein the processor may be a controller,addressable controller, microprocessor, microcontroller, addressablemicroprocessor, computer, programmable processor, programmablecontroller, dedicated processor, dedicated controller, computer, laptopcomputer or other processor.

The LED illumination device may have a controller to control the LEDoutput. The controller could be a pulse width modulator, pulse amplitudemodulator, pulse displacement modulator, resistor ladder, currentsource, voltage source, voltage ladder, voltage controller or otherpower controller.

An embodiment is a method of decoding information capable of beingexecuted by a processor. A user interface may be provided wherein imagesrepresenting information are displayed. Information may be selected fromthe user interface. The information may be converted to a lightingcontrol signal and the lighting control signal may be communicated to acommunication port. The communication port may be a USB port, serialport, parallel port, firewire port, high-speed communication port, orother communication port.

Illumination methods and systems are provided herein that overcome manyof the drawbacks of conventional illumination systems. In embodiments,methods and systems are provided for multicolored illumination. In anembodiment, the present invention is an apparatus for providing anefficient, computer-controlled, multicolored illumination capable ofhigh performance and rapid color selection and change.

As used herein, the term “LED” means any system that is capable ofreceiving an electrical signal and producing a color of light inresponse to the signal. Thus, the term “LED” should be understood toinclude light emitting diodes of all types, light emitting polymers,semiconductor dies that produce light in response to current, organicLEDs, electro-luminescent strips, and other such systems. In anembodiment, an “LED” may refer to a single light emitting diode packagehaving multiple semiconductor dies that are individually controlled. Itshould also be understood that the term “LED” does not restrict thepackage type of the LED. The term “LED” includes packaged LEDs,non-packaged LEDs, surface mount LEDs, chip on board LEDs and LEDs ofall other configurations.

An LED system is one type of illumination source. As used herein“illumination source” should be understood to include all illuminationsources, including LED systems, as well as incandescent sources,including filament lamps, pyro-luminescent sources, such as flames,candle-luminescent sources, such as gas mantles and carbon archradiation sources, as well as photo-luminescent sources, includinggaseous discharges, fluorescent sources, phosphorescence sources,lasers, electro-luminescent sources, such as electro-luminescent lamps,light emitting diodes, and cathode luminescent sources using electronicsatiation, as well as miscellaneous luminescent sources includinggalvano-luminescent sources, crystallo-luminescent sources,kine-luminescent sources, thermo-luminescent sources, triboluminescentsources, sonoluminescent sources, and radioluminescent sources.Illumination sources may also include luminescent polymers capable ofproducing primary colors.

The term “illuminate” should be understood to refer to the production ofa frequency of radiation by an illumination source. The term “color”should be understood to refer to any frequency of radiation within aspectrum; that is, a “color,” as used herein, should be understood toencompass frequencies not only of the visible spectrum, but alsofrequencies in the infrared and ultraviolet areas of the spectrum, andin other areas of the electromagnetic spectrum.

As used herein, the term “vehicle” should be understood to refer to anyvehicle such as an over-land vehicle, watercraft, aircraft, spacecraft,automobile, car, bus, truck, van, minivan, motorcycle, bicycle, moped,tricycle, tri-motorcycle, motorized cart, electric car, electric cart,electric bicycle, scooter, powered scooter, ship, boat, hovercraft,submarine, airplane, helicopter, space station, shuttle craft,commercial vehicle, recreational vehicle (RV), sport utility vehicles(SUV) or any other vehicle.

The term “color” should be understood to refer to any frequency ofradiation within a spectrum; that is, a “color,” as used herein, shouldbe understood to encompass frequencies not only of the visible spectrum,but also frequencies in the infrared and ultraviolet areas of thespectrum, and in other areas of the electromagnetic spectrum.

In an embodiment, an information item is provided shaped like a cube orother polygon. The information item can be illuminated to reflectinformation or data from a related information system, such as acomputer connected to a network. Examples of information displayed bythe cube can be net worth, weather data, or sports scores, eachreflected by illumination conditions of the item.

In an embodiment, a plurality of LEDs are used to back-light a displaypanel, such as an LCD display panel. The illumination can enhance thequality of the display, or it can convey information from a relatedinformation system.

In an embodiment, an illumination and information system for a vehicleis provided, where the interior or exterior of the vehicle isilluminated to reflect a state of information about the vehicle or aboutanother object or entity. For example, a tachometer can glow aparticular color to reflect engine speed.

In an embodiment, a package indicator is provided that uses illuminationto reflect information about the package, including shippinginformation, history of the package, exposure of the item to variousforces or conditions, or the like.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

The following figures depict certain illustrative embodiments of theinvention in which like reference numerals refer to like elements. Thesedepicted embodiments are to be understood as illustrative of theinvention and not as limiting in any way.

FIG. 1 is a system diagram depicting components of an information systemwith an illumination component as disclosed herein.

FIG. 2 depicts a laptop computer equipped with an illuminationcomponent.

FIG. 3 depicts an embodiment of an illumination component of aninformation system of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 depicts a sconce embodiment of an illumination and informationsystem.

FIG. 5 depicts a room environment for an illumination and informationsystem.

FIG. 6 depicts a flow diagram for conversion of an item of informationinto a specified type of illumination.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram for steps for converting information intoillumination.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of elements for illumination control.

FIG. 9 is a depiction of a tachometer embodiment of an illuminationsystem for a vehicle.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of elements of an illumination system.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of a networked illumination system.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of an alternative embodiment of anetworked illumination system.

FIG. 13 is an information cube embodiment of an information andillumination system.

FIG. 14 depicts a panel for conveying information as lit by an array oflight emitting diodes.

FIG. 15 depicts a schematic diagram of components for providing controlto a plurality of light emitting diodes.

FIG. 16 depicts an embodiment of an information cube with a variety ofoperational modes.

FIG. 17 depicts an alternate embodiment of a cube of FIG. 16.

FIG. 18 depicts an embodiment of an information and illumination systemwith manual inputs.

FIG. 19 depicts an embodiment of an information and illumination system.

FIG. 20 depicts a handheld device with a backlit LCD display.

FIG. 21 depicts components for a backlit LCD display embodiment of anillumination and information system.

FIG. 22 depicts components for a backlit LCD display embodiment of anillumination and information system.

FIG. 23 depicts a package indicator embodiment of an illumination andinformation system.

FIG. 24 depicts a flow diagram for an illumination and informationsystem.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The description below pertains to several illustrative embodiments ofthe invention. Although many variations of the invention may beenvisioned by one skilled in the art, such variations and improvementsare intended to be encompassed within this disclosure. Thus, the scopeof the invention is not to be limited in any way by the disclosurebelow.

With so much information available it can be difficult to gather anddisplay the information in a useful manner. Intelligent lighting systemsthat use LEDs to generate colored light in response to received signalscan be used to display and indicate information of all kinds. Thelighting systems can be designed to receive signals and convert them tolighting control signals or the signals can be received directly aslighting control signals.

The LED based lighting systems can drive multiple colored LEDs toproduce combined colored light. With a lighting system that includes twoor more different colored LEDs, combinations of those colors can begenerated to the extent the level of intensity or color shifting of theindividual LEDs can be controlled. In a preferred embodiment, the LEDsare controlled with a microprocessor to provide pulse width modulationcontrol to three colors of LEDs. The microprocessor is associated with aprogram input and input signals can be communicated to the programinput. When input signals are communicated to the program input themicroprocessor can generate LED control signals to produce colored lightthat is associated with the input.

FIG. 1 illustrates a computer network that includes a computer 102 and atransmitter 112 or 104 for transmitting signals. The computer 102 may bea laptop computer, personal computer, wireless device, handheld device,game console, server, mainframe, microcomputer, network computer,appliance, handheld game, personal digital assistant, cellular phone, orother suitable computer or other information system capable of relayinginformation. The transmitter can be any transmitter for communicatingsignals such as, but not limited to, electromagnetic, IR, RF, microwave,acoustic, wire, cable, or network. The transmitter is for communicatingprogram signals to a lighting device 108. The lighting device could beequipped with a receiver 110 for receiving the signals, which may be anyreceiver capable of receiving a signal transmitted by the applicabletransmitter 112 or 104. When the lighting device receives the programsignals it can generate a particular color or illumination effect. Thecolor or effect may be indicative of the signal received. For example,the transmitted information may be financial information regarding thestock price of a company. Information regarding the stock price could becommunicated to the lighting device and the lighting device couldproduce light or lighting effects. As a stock price rises, the lightcould produce green light, when it falls, the light could change to red.The light could indicate the rate of rise or decline by changingsaturations of the colors blue and yellow. If the stock price reaches ahigh enough level, the light could begin to flash on and off green tocatch the users eye. A dramatic drop could initiate a flashing redlight. The lighting device could produce continually changing colors atthe close of the market. Since color is a composite of hue, saturationand brightness these three parameters can reflect multiple pieces ofinformation. For example, a stock value may be represented by the hue, amarket shift may be represented by brightness, and the rainfall outsidemay be represented by saturation.

A plurality of lighting devices could also be used to generatecoordinated effects. The program signals could be directly received fromthe original source, the computer in this example, or the signals couldbe retransmitted through another device. One such method ofre-transmitting the signals would be to allow the lighting device tocomplete the communication. The lighting device could be equipped with aseparate transmitter or the LEDs used for lighting could be used for thedual purpose of lighting and communicating. There are many other methodsof transmitting information such as, but not limited to, electromagnetictransmission, RF, IR, microwave, wire, cable, network, telephonetransmission or over the power connections. A plurality of lightingdevices could also be used to receive separate channels of information.One lighting device could receive one type of information for displayand another device could be used for receiving another signal.

The information to be displayed could also be received from the WorldWide Web or through other networks where information is transferred. Forexample, the computer could receive information from a network and theinformation could be communicated to the lighting device. Theinformation could also be received from other networks including, butnot limited to, satellite networks, communication networks, ortelecommunication networks. The lighting device could be equipped with areceiver for receiving such information and respond by producing coloredlight when certain signals are received.

FIG. 3 illustrates one style LED lighting device. The LEDs 304 andcontrol unit may be attached to a material such as but not limited to, ashade, fabric, diffusing material, semi-translucent material, plastic,plastic dome, sculpted material or any other material. The material maybe selected for its absorption or transmission properties to maximizethe effect of the colored light. In a preferred embodiment a parchmentis formed into a spiral such that the inner and outer sections of thespiral absorb, reflect and transmit the colored light. FIG. 3 alsoillustrates another method of forming a shade. The shade includesseveral wraps 108 and 302 for distributing the lighting effects. Thelighting device may also direct the illumination without the aid of ashade or other material.

The lighting device can take on many forms such as, but not limited to,a table mounted device, a wall mounted device, a ceiling mounted device,or a floor mounted device. FIG. 4 illustrates a wall-mounted device thatmay take on the appearance of being a sconce. Where the LEDs 304 aremounted in a position to shine on the shade 402.

FIG. 5 illustrates a room where one or more lighting devices 108 may belocated. These lighting devices may produce coordinated lighting effectsor each one may produce standalone effects. Coordinated effects can beaccomplished in many ways such as, but not limited to, using onelighting device as a master with the others acting as slaves, sendingaddressed information to the lighting devices wherein the lightingdevices have addressable controllers, or a combination of these methods.In the master-slave set up, one lighting device may receive programsignals and then pass on new or the same program signals to the otherlighting devices. The lighting device may also pass on part of theinformation received. The second method could be referred to as anetwork solution where each of the lighting devices is listening for thesignals that pertain to it. Upon receiving the addressed information,the lighting device could initiate the illumination conditions.

FIG. 6 depicts a flow diagram to illustrate how the information may beconverted into lighting conditions in a preferred embodiment. The valueof the information may be received by a system and this information maybe converted to a lighting function. The lighting function in turn isthen converted into lighting control signals corresponding to aparticular hue, saturation and intensity. These control signals are thencommunicated to the lighting device and the lighting device produces thedesired illumination conditions.

The lighting device can also be incorporated into another device. FIG. 2illustrates a laptop computer 202 with two lighting devices 208 and 212,one surrounding the on-off switch for the computer 202 and oneindependent of other switches. These lighting devices could be used togenerate colored light to inform the user of any information including,but not limited to, information received from a network or informationregarding the performance of the machine. The button indicator 208 maybe used to alert the user when the laptop is going into a sleep modebefore it goes to sleep. This would be useful during presentations toavoid the system from shutting off at a critical point. The otherindicator 212 may be used to indicate battery life or other operationalconditions such as, but not limited to, processor speed, down loadspeed, temperature outside as received from an external signal like theworld wide web. The indicator can also take on any shape. For example,the edge 204 surrounding the computer screen could be used as anindicator. The edge lighting or any other lighting could be broken upinto separate channels for receiving and displaying differentinformation. Individual buttons on the keyboard could also be used asindicators as well as keys.

Another example of where the lighting device can be used to conveyinformation is in a computer, computer room or server room. The serverroom or server building is a very complicated area that is also the showplace of many businesses. Many server and networks are monitored bysoftware dedicated to reviewing the condition of the system. Theseprograms monitor everything from network traffic to individual fanspeeds on network devices. The software monitors all aspects of thenetwork or individual device to allow the network manager to optimizethe systems performance and prevent breakdowns. It would be useful toprovide an intelligent lighting device for monitoring the system andalert the network manager of the system conditions.

A lighting device could be provided to fit into an existing port on aserver or system such as, but not limited to, a rack mount enclosure, a5¼″ drive slot or a 3½″ drive slot. The lighting device could also be aseparate device. The lighting device can use also the heat sinkingprovided by the existing slot on a server or other computer. Thelighting system could be associated with the network software and thesoftware could be tailored to provide overall operationalcharacteristics of the system or the network manager may decide tomonitor a particular parameter. The system may be indicating overallacceptable performance with a particular parameter declining inperformance. This may result in a particular light pattern from thelighting device. The light pattern may be green with an intermittentyellow emitted every five seconds. This would provide information to themanager to check the system even though everything is operating. Thelighting device could begin to turn red as the system slows down and itcould be programmed to strobe red when the system is in a criticalcondition.

Another useful example of an information system is where it is used toprovide information as to when a task is completed. Computers or otherdevices may be tied up performing calculations or tasks and the deviceshould not be touched while the system is performing these functions.The device may send lighting signals to the illumination device to alertothers not to touch the device. These signals may instruct theillumination device to illuminate red while the device is performingcalculations and may begin to change color until arriving at the colorgreen when the calculations are complete.

Many computer rooms have raised floors, false ceilings or walls forpassing all of the wires and cables. The tiles in the floor, ceiling andor wall are typically removable to allow access to the wires and cables.One or more of these tiles could also be replaced with a lighting deviceto provide lighting or information. An embodiment of such tiles weredisclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/215,624. A separatepanel of lighting devices could also be provided to allow the display ofvarious channels or various levels.

Hard drives in network storage areas are many times made to beaccessible to the user. These drives may have LED indicators to indicateactivity or power or fault. These indicators are typically single colorlow output LEDs that flash to make the indication. For example, theindicator for activity may flash every time the drive is accessed. Theuser looks at the flashing rate of the indicator to get an idea of theusage rate. When you view a large panel of drives you typically see manygreen indicators flashing and it is very difficult to discern on drivefrom the next. An embodiment of the invention system could be used insuch a drive to provide color or color changing effects as an improvedinformation system. The information lighting system could be in the formof an indicator panel, light, or the entire front plate or enclosure maybe used. One embodiment of this is disclosed in U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 60/221,579 “Color Changing Device and Enclosure.”These hard drives are sometimes referred to as Hot Swap Hard Drives,Modular Drives, Modular Bays and are sold by Dell, EMC and others. Thissystem could be used in the drive for easy display of informationregarding the drive performance, life expectancy, life, temperature,spindle speed or any other information. The drive can also be put into aself-test mode and the lighting device could be used to provideinformation of the test status or result.

Turning to the flow chart 700 in FIG. 7, the information system mayinclude an LED illumination unit 108 for displaying illuminationconditions indicative of information. The LED illumination 108 unit maybe a stand-alone device, networked device, network appliance, networkperipheral, LED device, LED device with processor, or other illuminationdevice capable of changing the illumination conditions in response to asignal. A processor may also be provided in or associated with thelighting device and the processor may be a controller, addressablecontroller, microprocessor, microcontroller, addressable microprocessor,computer, programmable processor, programmable controller, dedicatedprocessor, dedicated controller, computer, laptop computer or otherprocessor.

The illumination device 108 may receive information signals directly andthe information signals may be used to change the hue, saturation orintensity of the illumination device. The information signals maycontain information such as financial information, environmentalinformation, computer status information, notification information,email notification information, status information or other information.The information signal may be communicated to the LED illuminationdevice through electromagnetic transmission, radio frequencytransmission, infrared transmission, microwave transmission, acoustictransmission, wire transmission, cable transmission, networktransmission or any other communication transmission.

The source of the information at the step 702 may be from the world wideweb (WWW), a database, a network, software, program, computer, or othersystem. The information may also be obtained through a hyperlink orother information transfer mechanism. The information may be in the formof a digital signal or an analog signal where the analog signal isconverted to a digital signal for processing. Once the information isobtained, it may not need to be decoded at the step 704. The decodingprocess may involve deciphering the pertinent information form theremaining information in the signal. For example, an entire web page maybe down loaded from the World Wide Web and the only information the userwants to send to the lighting device pertains to the snowfallaccumulation in Grand Rapids, Mich. The snowfall information would thenbe decoded or retrieved from the other information to be furtherprocessed.

Following the decoding process at the step 704, the information may needto be transformed into lighting control signals at the step 708. Thismay be a process executed on a processor to convert the format of theinformation into lighting control signals that can be executed by thelighting device. For example, the information retrieved from the WorldWide Web concerning the snowfall accumulation may be in the format ofinches per hour. This value may need to be converted into lightingcontrol signals to produce a particular hue, saturation or intensity ofthe illumination device.

The elements described in the flow diagram 700 of FIG. 7 may all beincorporated into the illumination device or they may reside indifferent devices. Where communications between the elements isrequired, the communication can be accomplished through radio frequency,infrared, microwave, acoustic, wire, cable, network, electromagnetic orother communications method.

Referring again to FIG. 1, the information system may also be providedwith a user interface 102. The user interface may be used to select theinformation to be displayed by the illumination device. In an embodimentthe user interface may be a computer, personal digital assistant (PDA),computer peripheral, portable interface, stand-alone interface, webbrowser, PDA, portable device, stand-alone device, web site, touchscreen, LCD screen, plasma screen, laptop computer, or any other userinterface. The user interface may be used to select information to becommunicated to the LED illumination device. For example, the interfacemay select the information from a web page to be displayed. The userinterface may allow the user to select various information and theinformation may then be converted to lighting control signals.

FIG. 8 illustrates a block diagram of a system according to theprinciples of the invention. A processor 2 is associated with severalcontrollers 3. The controllers 3 control the power to the LEDs 4. Theprocessor 2 may be any processor or circuit to provide the controlsignals to the controllers 3 such as, but not limited to, a controller,addressable controller, microprocessor, microcontroller, addressablemicroprocessor, computer, programmable processor, programmablecontroller, dedicated processor, dedicated controller, applicationspecific integrated circuit, integrated circuit, control circuit orother processor. In an embodiment, the processor 2 is Microchip PICprocessor and the LEDs 4 may be red, green and blue. The controller 3may be a pulse width modulator, pulse amplitude modulator, pulsedisplacement modulator, resistor ladder, current source, voltage source,voltage ladder, switch, transistor, voltage controller, or othercontroller. The controller controls the current, voltage or powerthrough the LED 4. The controller also has a signal input wherein thecontroller is responsive to a signal received by the signal input. Thesignal input is associated with the processor such that the processorcommunicates signals to the signal input and the controller regulatesthe current, voltage and or power through the LED. In an embodiment,several LEDs with different spectral output may be used. Each of thesecolors may be driven through separate controllers. The processor andcontroller may be incorporated into one device. This device may powercapabilities to drive several LEDs in a string or it may only be able tosupport one or a few LEDs directly. The processor and controller mayalso be separate devices. By controlling the LEDs independently, colormixing can be achieved for the creation of lighting effects. Electronicmemory 6 may also be provided. The memory 6 is capable of storingalgorithms, tables, files, or values associated with the controlsignals. In an embodiment, the memory 6 may store programs forcontrolling the LEDs 4. A program, for example, may store controlsignals to operate several different colored LEDs 4. A user interface 1may also be associated with the processor 2. The user interface may beused to select a program from memory, modify a program from memory,modify a program parameter from memory, select an external signal orprovide other user interface solutions. Several methods of color mixingand pulse width modulation control are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No.6,016,038 “Multicolored LED Lighting Method and Apparatus” and isincorporated by reference herein. The processor 2 can also beaddressable to receive programming signals addressed to it.

The LED illumination device may also be associated with signal inputconnection. An information signal may be communicated to the signalinput connection or receiver 110. The processor may convert theinformation signal into an illumination control signal; and theillumination device may change color corresponding to the informationsignal. A second processor may also be provided. The second processormay convert the information signal to lighting control signals. Theselighting control signals may be communicated to the LED illuminationdevice.

An embodiment of the invention is a method of decoding informationcapable of being executed by a processor. A user interface may beprovided wherein images representing information are displayed.Information may be selected from the user interface. The information maybe converted to a lighting control signal and the lighting controlsignal may be communicated to a communication port. The communicationport may be a USB port, serial port, parallel port, firewire port,high-speed communication port, optical port or other communication port.

An example of a software program designed to collect information andconvert the information to lighting control signals is inDMXPlayerFrame.java written by Brian Chemel. The code of the program isincluded as part of this specification and is labeled as Appendix A,which appears before the claims herein.

In another embodiment, a lighting device could also be incorporated intoan appliance to indicate the appliance activity. An example of thiswould be where a lighting device is incorporated into an iron. Thelighting device could indicate the temperature of the hot plate. Theindicator could be associated with a temperature sensor, timer or otherdevice for indicating the condition of the iron. As the iron warms up,the lighting device could slowly change from blue, to green, yellow andfinally red when the desired temperature is achieved or when the deviceis above a predetermined temperature. The entire enclosure could be litor a portion of the enclosure could be lit. The lighting device couldalso indicate any other parameters of the appliance. The water level inthe appliance may be monitored and the information may be converted tolight control signals to generate a particular illumination effect.

The lighting device can produce a wide range of hue, saturation andintensity and each of these parameters can be independently changed.Each of the parameters may be used to indicate different information.For example, if the system is monitoring stock price, the hue couldchange as a result of the stock price exceeding a predetermined valueand the saturation could change as a result of how far in excess thestock value has reached compared to the predetermined value. Anotherexample would be where the hue is indicative of a parameter andintensity and saturation are indicative of a level of the parameter. Thelighting device may be monitoring a stock portfolio and the temperaturein the Cayman Islands. The hue of red may indicate the lighting deviceis monitoring the stock portfolio and the hue of green may indicate thetemperature. The intensity or saturation of the particular hue mayincrease as the portfolio or temperature increase.

These devices can also be designed to respond or send information toanother device. The device could be associated with sensors,transducers, or other devices for monitoring the activity around or ofthe device. For example, the device could be associated with a sensorsuch that when the device is picked up it sends a signal to anotherdevice such as, but not limited to, a network. This signal could then beinterpreted by another device for further action.

A lighted keyboard could also be used to teach typing or indicate otherinformation. In teaching, the indicators located under each key could besingle LEDs to produce only one color or they could contain multiplecolored LEDs. The keys could light when the student is suppose to touchcertain keys and the keys could change colors if the instructions werenot followed. Games could also be created using the colored or lit keys.

Another embodiment of the present disclosure employs a combination of aninformation system and a lighting device in a vehicle. In vehicleapplications, a LED lighting device may be used to light the interior,exterior, within the vehicle or associated with the vehicle. Reasons forvehicle illumination may be to provide general illumination, fordecorative purposes, for observation of instruments, for informationconveyance, or for any other purpose. See U.S. patent application Ser.No. 09/213,607 “Systems and Methods for Sensor-Responsive Illumination.”The dashboard of the vehicle may be illuminated with an LED device withcolor changing ability and this lighting device may change colors as theresult of a manual input, a sensor input, a transducer input or anyother input.

The block diagram of FIG. 8 illustrates a block diagram suitable for anillumination-based vehicle information system according to theprinciples of the invention. As with other information systems disclosedherein, processor 2 is associated with several controllers 3. Thecontrollers 3 control the power to the LEDs 4. As used herein, the termprocessor may refer to any system for processing electronic signals. Aprocessor may include a microprocessor, microcontroller, programmabledigital signal processor, other programmable device, a controller,addressable controller, addressable microprocessor, computer,programmable processor, programmable controller, dedicated processor,dedicated controller, integrated circuit, control circuit or otherprocessor. A processor may also, or instead, include an applicationspecific integrated circuit, a programmable gate array, programmablearray logic, a programmable logic device, a digital signal processor, ananalog-to-digital converter, a digital-to-analog converter, or any otherdevice that may be configured to process electronic signals. Inaddition, a processor may include discrete circuitry such as passive oractive analog components including resistors, capacitors, inductors,transistors, operational amplifiers, and so forth, as well as discretedigital components such as logic components, shift registers, latches,or any other separately packaged chip or other component for realizing adigital function. Any combination of the above circuits and components,whether packaged discretely, as a chip, as a chipset, or as a die, maybe suitably adapted to use as a processor as described herein. It willfurther be appreciated that the term processor may apply to anintegrated system, such as a personal computer, network server, or othersystem that may operate autonomously or in response to commands toprocess electronic signals such as those described herein. Where aprocessor includes a programmable device such as the microprocessor ormicrocontroller mentioned above, the processor may further includecomputer executable code that controls operation of the programmabledevice. In an embodiment, the processor 2 is Microchip PIC processor12C672 and the LEDs 4 may be red, green and blue.

The controller 3 may be a pulse width modulator, pulse amplitudemodulator, pulse displacement modulator, resistor ladder, currentsource, voltage source, voltage ladder, switch, transistor, voltagecontroller, or other controller. The controller controls the current,voltage or power through the LED 4. The controller also has a signalinput wherein the controller is responsive to a signal received by thesignal input. The signal input is associated with the processor suchthat the processor communicates signals to the signal input and thecontroller regulates the current, voltage and or power through the LED.In an embodiment, several LEDs with different spectral output may beused. Each of these colors may be driven through separate controllers.The processor and controller may be incorporated into one device. Thisdevice may power capabilities to drive several LEDs in a string or itmay only be able to support one or a few LEDs directly. The processorand controller may also be separate devices. By controlling the LEDsindependently, color mixing can be achieved for the creation of lightingeffects. Electronic memory 6 may also be provided. The memory 6 iscapable of storing algorithms, tables, or values associated with thecontrol signals. The memory 6 may store programs for controlling theLEDs 4. The memory may be memory, read-only memory, programmable memory,programmable read-only memory, electronically erasable programmableread-only memory, random access memory, dynamic random access memory,double data rate random access memory, Rambus direct random accessmemory, flash memory, or any other volatile or non-volatile memory forstoring program instructions, program data, address information, andprogram output or other intermediate or final results. A program, forexample, may store control signals to operate several different coloredLEDs 4. A user interface 1 may also be associated with the processor 2.The user interface may be used to select a program from memory, modify aprogram from memory, modify a program parameter from memory, select anexternal signal or provide other user interface solutions. Severalmethods of color mixing and pulse width modulation control are disclosedin U.S. Pat. No. 6,016,038 “Multicolored LED Lighting Method andApparatus” and is incorporated by reference herein. The processor 2 canalso be addressable to receive programming signals addressed to it.

Another useful interface is an interface that is associated with a powersource. An energy storage element can be associated with a power source.The energy storage device can also be associated with a processor. Theenergy storage element may be a capacitor, non-volatile memory, batterybacked memory, relay, storage device or other energy storage element.The element may communicate a logic high and a logic low signal to theprocessor depending on the state of the element. For example, theelement may communicate a low logic signal when the device is connectedto the power source and a high logic signal when the device isdisconnected from the power source. The high logic signal may change toa low logic signal following a predetermined period of time and theprocessor may be monitoring the signal. The lighting device could beprogrammed such that a last lighting program may be operating when thedevice is de-energized. If the device is re-energized within apredetermined period, while the logic signal is still high, the devicemay select a new program from memory to execute. If the device is notre-energized within the predetermined period, the device may start up inthe last lighting program or a default program. A non-volatile memory,battery backed memory or other memory may be provided such that the lastprogram is remembered. The technique can be used to change the program,a program parameter or other setting. This technique can be used in adevice that does not include a separate user interface by turning thepower to the lighting device off and on. A separate switch could also beemployed to provide the user interface as well as an on/off switch.

Sections of a vehicle can be lit with LEDs to produce many differentillumination effects. FIG. 10 depicts an LED lighting device 1000 thatincludes at least one LED 1002 and a processor 1004. The processor canbe a device such as a processor, a microprocessor, a circuit, acomputer, a microcomputer, a controller, a network or other processorfor controlling the LEDs to produce illumination. The processor 1004will be associated with the LEDs 1002 to control the LED 1002 output andthe processor 1004 may be incorporated into the lighting device or maybe remotely located. The lighting device can be powered through externalmethods or on-board methods. The system may be adaptable for attachingto an A.C. source or D.C. source. The on-board solutions includeproviding a battery, cell, solar system, rechargeable system, windsystem, water system or any other system for supplying power to thesystem.

An object can be lit with one or more LEDs to provide illumination.Where one LED is used, the object may be lit with a single color withvarying intensity or the intensity may be fixed. In a preferredembodiment, the object being lit includes more than one LED and inanother embodiment the LEDs are different colors. By providing a lightedobject with different colored LEDs, the hue, saturation and brightnessof the object can be changed. The two or more LEDs can be used toprovide additive color. If two LEDs were used to light the object withcircuitry to turn each color on or off, four colors could be producedincluding black when neither LED is energized, two LEDs with twointensity levels yields 2² colors. Another example is where three LEDsare used to light the object and each LED has three intensity settings.This configuration yields 3³ or 27 color selections. In a preferredembodiment, the LED control signals would be PWM signals generated by amicroprocessor using three LED channels with at least one LED perchannel to generate 16.7 million colors.

The lighting devices could also be networked together to provide forcoordinated effects or other effects. FIG. 11 illustrates one suchnetwork solution. A plurality of lighting devices 1000 are associatedthrough a network 1104. The network 1104 could provide lighting controlsignals 1102 through a transmitter, circuit or network 1104 to thedevices 1000 and the devices may have addressable controllers forreceiving the lighting control information. The network could use anycommunication method such as wire, cable, network, electromagnetictransmission, RF transmission, IR transmission, microwave transmissionor any other communication method. Packets of addressed information maybe sent through the network and the individual or groups of lightingdevices could be waiting listening for its address and then executingthe lighting control commands upon receipt of its packet. The packets ofinformation may also be sent to all of the lighting devices and thedevices may not have addressable controllers. Another configuration of anetworked system would be using a master lighting device 1102 and atleast one slave device 1000 as depicted in FIG. 12. The master devicecould communicate lighting instructions to the slave device and severalslave devices could have addressable controllers to provide coordinatedeffects.

Many of the illumination applications could also use stand-alone devicesproviding individual lighting effects. The lighting device could beassociated with a user interface to select a program from memory forexample. The lighting device could also include a data port forreceiving new programs. The lighting device could be programmed with aplurality of lighting control routines to be selected by the user suchas different solid colors, slowly changing colors, fast changing colors,stobing light, or any other lighting routines. The selector switch couldbe used to select the program. Another method of selecting a programwould be to turn the power to the lighting device off and then back onwithin a predetermined period of time. For example, non-volatile memorycould be used to provide a lighting device that remembers the lastprogram it was running prior to the power being shut off. A capacitorcould be used to keep a signal line high for 10 seconds and if the poweris cycled within this period, the system could be programmed to skip tothe next program. If the power cycle takes more then 10 seconds, thecapacitor discharges below the high signal level and the previousprogram is recalled upon re-energizing the system. Other methods ofcycling through the programs would be obvious to those skilled in theart.

The lighting device could also receive external signals and generateillumination conditions corresponding to the received signal. This maybe a useful technique for changing illumination conditions in responseto a sensor, transducer, signal, network signal or other signal. Thesensors may be equipped to receive communication signals such aselectromagnetic, RF, microwave, IR, acoustic or other signals. Thereception of the communication signals may be accomplished through wire,cable, network, receiver, electromagnetic receiver, acoustic receiver orany other suitable receiver. The communication signals may betransmitted as lighting control signals to be used by the lightingdevice or the signals may require some transformation, interpretation,signal processing or other process step to be converted into lightingcontrol signals. For example, a sensor may feed an analog voltage to thelighting device and the lighting device may convert the voltage to adigitized signal to control the LEDs. The control signal sent to theLEDs may correspond to the sensor voltage to create illumination effectsthat correlate with the sensor voltage.

In vehicle applications, a LED lighting device may be used to light theinterior, exterior, within the vehicle or associated with the vehicle.Reasons for vehicle illumination may be to provide general illumination,for decorative purposes, for observation of instruments, for informationconveyance, or for any other purpose. See U.S. patent application Ser.No. 09/213,607 “Systems and Methods for Sensor-Responsive Illumination.”The dashboard of the vehicle may be illuminated with an LED device withcolor changing ability and this lighting device may change colors as theresult of a manual input, a sensor input, a transducer input or anyother input.

As an example, a lighting device may be provided wherein the lightingdevice includes a combination of two different colored LEDs. Thislighting device may be used to light an instrument panel, portion of aninstrument panel or specific instrument on the vehicle's dashboard, suchas the tachometer. FIG. 9 depicts a tachometer 901. The lighting devicecould receive signals from various segments of the vehicle that aremonitoring engine speed. This engine speed could then be transmitted tothe lighting device and cause the tachometer to change colors inresponse to changes in engine speed. This could be used to supplementthe mechanical section of the tachometer or replace the tachometer. Thecolor may continually change to match the engine speed or the lightingconditions could be stepped or produce other effects at predeterminedlevels. For example, the tachometer may be lit with one or more LEDs tocreate the appearance of a white panel until the engine speed reaches awarning level where the lighting conditions would be changed to yellow.Upon further escalation of the engine speed, the lighting conditions maychange the tachometer to red and may even flash red on and off if the aparticular engine speed is surpassed or maintained for a predeterminedperiod of time. A section of the instrument may also be lit with the LEDlighting device. For example, a lighted panel may be provided along withthe tachometer and this panel may change in color or respond byproducing a predetermined color in concert with the engine speed.

This type of changing illumination to provide information can be used ina variety of areas in the vehicle and to provide information about avariety of performance, ambient, environmental or other conditions. Forexample, information regarding inside temperature, outside temperature,engine speed, oil pressure, vehicle speed, air quality, system settings,pending collision, traffic density, fuel mileage, remaining fuel,battery status, or for electric vehicles, remaining battery charge, orany other information could be converted to changing illuminationconditions. Information regarding network communications could also bedisplayed. For example, lighting conditions could change indicating newemail or an incoming phone call has arrived. The lighting is not limitedto the dashboard, although this area may be more visible to a driver,and may provide the driver with easily viewed and interpretedinformation regarding vehicle performance, system settings and any otheruseful or required information. Such illumination devices could also beused in heads-up displays to convey information to the windshield orother areas where information is projected. The LED lighting system maybe used throughout the vehicle to provide decorative or informativelighting effects.

These lighting systems can also be used with manual switches, sliders,dials or other devices to change the settings manually. The user of thevehicle may want to change the coloring of the interior, exterior orinternal space of the vehicle to a particular color or to providecolor-changing effects. An example of a decorative color-changing effectis where the color of the light slowly changes similar to a color wheel.

Another useful example of such a lighting device for the vehicle iswhere it is used for general illumination as well as a decorativedisplay. A cup holder may be lit with such a lighting device. Thissystem may include a fiber optic system for lighting a ring around thecup holder. For example, two or more LEDs may be positioned to couplelight into a fiber and the fiber may be positioned around the cupholder. The light would then couple to the fiber and be transmittedthrough the fiber. The fiber may be frosted, include a pattern, haveimperfections or other characteristics such that the light is divertedby the frosting or pattern and projected out of the fiber. Using afrosted fiber can create the illusion that the string is evenly lit.Such devices may also carry information to the user as described aboveor they may be constant color or manually changing color devices.

Coordinated effects such as chasing rainbows or other effects could becreated by networking the lighting devices together. This may be usefulin decorating the outside of a vehicle for example. The lower portion ofthe body of the vehicle could be lit with a plurality of lightingdevices and the light could be projected to the ground to create movingcolor changing effects around the vehicle. See U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 09/215,624 “Smart Light Bulb.”

Supplementing or replacing the dome lights and task lights in thevehicle with an LED lighting device could also be very useful. The colorprojected from these lights could then be tunable for variousconditions. The lighting device may include a selector for selecting thecolor red, for example, to provide lighting but avoid eye fatigue andoverexposing the eyes to white light while the eyes have become adjustedto the darkened conditions. The lighting could also be set to project aparticular color when the car is unlocked or an alarm is disarmed. Thiscould assist the user in finding his vehicle in a crowded parking lot byturning the inside of the vehicle to a flashing blue or changing colors.

It would also be useful to provide a brake lighting system that wouldhave variable brightness corresponding to the brake pedal pressure,deflection or other input. This could be used, for example, to alleviateproblems associated with false indications of the driver's intent. Withconventional incandescent brake lighting systems a variable brightnesssystem could be employed by varying the voltage supplied to the lightfixture in relation to the brake pedal position. A significant problemassociated with energizing the incandescent lamps at low power is thatthey will not warm-up as fast and as a result they will not attain thedesired brightness as quickly as desired. This type of control has beenimpossible to achieve with conventional light emitting diode brakelighting systems because these systems employ simple circuitry to turnthe light emitting diodes on or off with no way of varying the lightintensity.

A lighting system according to the invention could also be used as awarning system. For example, the brake lighting system of a vehiclecould be designed to provide varying effects. A braking system could bemade where the light-emitting diode brake light intensity wouldcorrespond to the brake pedals deflection or pressure. When the brakingrate, peddle pressure or other measure of the drivers intent ismeasured, a corresponding lighting control signal could be sent to thebrake lighting system. For example, the driver may only lightly applythe brakes and the brake lighting system may then light at a reducedlevel. This would indicate to following cars that the driver is slowingand not coming to an abrupt halt. Another example is where the pressurein the brake fluid lines or the pressure of the brake pads on the brakediscs would be used to drive signals to the braking system. The speed ofthe vehicle or rate at which it is changing speed may also be used toprovide signals to the braking system. The lowest light intensity canstill be fixed at a level high enough to cause warning. The lightemitting diodes generate light almost instantaneously to provide a veryfast warning even at the lower intensity level, avoiding the slowturn-on problems associated with the incandescent system.

One such system could comprise a position, pressure, velocity or othertransducer on the brake pedal or in the braking system. Other sensorscould also be employed to create the necessary signals to indicate thedesired lighting changes. For example, when the pedal is depressed, atransducer could output a control signal to be used as an input signalto the microprocessor driving the light emitting diodes. Amicroprocessor could then create a corresponding PWM signal to energizethe light emitting diodes. Other input signals could be generated fromdevices linked to the vehicle's speed sensing system.

A system according to the principles of the invention can also be usedto create other warning signals. For example, when the brake pedal isdepressed with great force or speed the brake lights could flash bycycling the light emitting diodes at fall brightness in a warningpattern. The light emitting diode system is much better than anincandescent system for this kind of warning signal because of the fastresponse of the light emitting diodes. Rather than a slow flashing rate,as with incandescent automobile flasher or blinker assemblies, the lightemitting diodes can be cycled fast enough to make a strobe effect. Theselighting effects can also be combined with other functions in thevehicle such as using them as flashers indicating the vehicle isdisabled or stopped. Other switches in the vehicle such as a hazardlight switch or a fog light switch could also turn on the light emittingdiode lighting fixtures. Another advantage of using a light emittingdiode system to provide hazard lighting is the system consumes far lesspower than an incandescent system. The low power consumption willincrease the time the vehicle can operate the warning lights when theonly available power is the battery. In a situation where the vehicle isoperating in low visibility conditions, a fog light switch could be usedto activate a portion of one or more of the light emitting diodefixtures to provide a warning beacon.

The warning system could also use two or more different colored LEDs toprovide color-changing effects and or combined lighting effects. Forexample, the light from two or more different colored LEDs could be usedto generate a combined color. This may be useful where specific warningsor information is desired. A portion of the tail light assembly may bechanged to produce orange in foggy situations to provide a beacon in theback of the vehicle. The light assembly may change to green to indicatethe vehicle is in a particular condition.

A lighting system according to the invention may also be used as adiagnostic tool. The lighting system may be inside of the vehicle,outside of the vehicle, within portions of the vehicle or in anotherplace associated or remotely located from the vehicle. Many of today'svehicles have input and output ports to send and receive information.For example, a mechanic may connect a diagnostic system to a port on thevehicle to receive information concerning the vehicle's operation andthe mechanic may also send the vehicle's system information to change,set or reset a parameter. These same or other communication ports couldbe used to send the lighting system information regarding the operationof the vehicle. A lighting system according to the principles of theinvention may be used to receive signals from the vehicle and display acolor or lighting effects corresponding to the information in thesignals. The signals received from the vehicle may need to be convertedinto lighting control signals. This conversion could be accomplished,for example, with a processor. The processor may be programmed toreceive and interpret the signals and then communicate correspondinglighting control signals. A useful placement of such a lighting devicemay be under the hood of the vehicle such that it could be seen when thehood is opened. The color of the lighting device or of the illuminationemitting from the illumination device could indicate any faults,maintenance issues or other information. This could also be used toreplace or supplement the indicator lights within the vehicle. Forexample, rather then having multiple lights for indicating faults orother information, a single lighting unit according to the inventioncould be used. This system could indicate many different faults orinformation by generating specific colors or color changing effects. Forexample a panel of sufficient size, for example one inch square, couldbe backlit with a lighting system according to the principles of theinvention. The lighting system could cause the panel to change in colorto indicate a particular condition or information. A system accordingthe principles of the invention could also receive signals from outsideof the vehicle. For example, the system may receive network signals,transmissions, telecommunication signals, signals from the World WideWeb, local area network, personal area network, or other signals. Thepanel could then change colors to indicate the source of an incomingphone call, receipt of an email, financial information or any otherinformation.

Another embodiment of the present invention is an information systemsuitable for an office, workplace, home office, room, dorm room, orsimilar user environment. The information system may receive dataindicative of a variable and the system may convert the information tolight indicative of the information. For example, the information systemmay receive data regarding the net worth of an individual and this valuemay be converted to a particular color of light depending on the actualvalue as compared to an average value. If the net worth is above theaverage value, the color of the light may be green and the higher thevalue is above the average the more blue the light changes. When the networth value is lower then the average value, the light may be pink andslowly change to red and end with a flashing red light pattern when thevalue bottoms out at some predetermined value. The light may not changecolors but rather turn on at a particular value. The light may be offuntil the net worth reaches a predetermined value and then the light mayturn on red or generate a flashing pattern. The system may also changecolors abruptly by turning one color off and another color on such aswhen the value is in the red range and then in the green. One skilled inthe art would appreciate that there are many other light colors andpatterns that could be generated to indicate information regardingreceived information.

FIG. 13 represents an information system according to the principles ofthe present invention. In this embodiment, a cube 1300 is depictedhaving sides or side panels 1302. The side may panels include designs,images, logos or the like 1304. The designs 1304 may be removablyattachable to the side panels 1302 or they may be permanently affixed oretched into the side panel 1302. The design may also be embedded in theside panel 1302. A system such as that found in FIG. 13 may include alighting system such that the side panel and or the design can beilluminated.

FIG. 14 represents a lighting system according to the principles of theinvention. At least one LED and preferably a group of LEDs 1404 may beused to illuminate the side panel 1302 and or the design 1304. The LEDs1404 may all be of similar color or they may be of dissimilar color. Ina preferred embodiment, the LEDs 1404 may be different colored LEDs1404R red, 1404G green, and 1404B blue. By using different colored LEDs1404 many different colors may be generated by combining the light frommore than one LED 1404.

In an embodiment, three different colored LEDs 1404R, 1404G, and 1404Bmay be used to light a design in the side panel. The separate colors maybe energized at separate times to generate individual colors of thedesign or two or more of the colors may be energized simultaneously togenerate a combined color for illuminating the design.

Referring to FIG. 15, in a preferred embodiment, the separate LEDs1404R, 1404G, and 1404B may be controlled through a processor 1502. Theprocessor 1502 may generate pulse width modulated signals or drive theLEDs with analog voltage or other means. Color changing techniques usinga single LED or combination of different colored LEDs via a processorare taught in U.S. Pat. No. 6,016,038 which is herby incorporated byreference herein. FIG. 14 illustrates that the LEDs 1404 may be arrangedto illuminate the side panel 1302 and or the design 1304. One skilled inthe art would appreciate that there are many other configurations wherethe LEDs 1404 could be used to illuminate the panel 1302.

A block diagram of a lighting system according to the principles of thepresent invention can be found in FIG. 15. The LEDs 1404 may beindividually controlled by a processor 1502. The processor 1502 may beassociated with a memory 1504 wherein the memory may include lightingprograms or signals that can be associated with received information. Ina preferred embodiment, the processor may be a microprocessor, however,it would be appreciated by one skilled in the art that there are manytypes of processors and processing circuits that could be used. Aninformation signal may be received through data port 1508. The data port1508 may be a wired or wireless port. The data may contain variableinformation regarding most any variable. For example, financialinformation, weather information, sports information, businessinformation, personal information, computer information, performanceinformation, entertainment information, health information, gameinformation, or any other information. An embodiment of an informationsystem, as shown in FIG. 13, may receive a plurality information signalsregarding different variables. For example, the system may receiveinformation regarding the weather information, financial information,and the score of a sporting event. The system may then display theinformation as colored light illuminating a side panel corresponding tothe type of information. For example, the sporting event score may betranslated into color control signals and the color control signals maybe used to control the LEDs 1404 lighting the panel 1302 containing thefootball shaped design.

In an embodiment, the information system may comprise a cube asillustrated in FIG. 13, pyramid, dodecahedron, sphere, polygon,tetrahedron, cone, rectangular solid, fanciful or other shape. Thepanels and or designs may be permanently affixed to the informationsystem or they may be removably attached. When they are permanentlyattached, a processor 1502 may be arranged to communicate particularcontrol signals to a particular set of LEDs. For example, when sportsinformation is received on data port 1508, the processor may direct thecontrol signals to the LEDs that are arranged to illuminate the sportspanel. One method of accomplishing this directing of information may beto receive different types of information signals through input port1508, each type of information containing an identifier identifying theinformation type. The information may contain a header for example. Whenthe information system receives the information signal the processor mayretrieve control signals from memory 1504 corresponding to theparticular type of information and the communicate control signals tothe LEDs in the appropriate panel. When the panels or designs areremovably attached, the panels and or designs may include a feature thatindicates its form and the feature may be received by the processor toidentify the particular panel with a type of information.

In an embodiment, the information system may be a cube or other shapeand the entire or substantial portion of the cube may be illuminated.The panels 1302 may be associated with particular information sourcesbut the entire cube may appear to be illuminated. Changing theorientation of the cube as illustrated in FIG. 16, for example, maychange the source of the information or the information display. Thecube may contain a position-oriented switch or device such that theposition of the switch determines which source of information will bedisplayed. For example the switch may a gravity-activated switch or aposition activated switch where a metal ball moves through a pathway tomake contact with one of a plurality of connectors or any other positionswitch. In an embodiment, the information system may receive differenttypes of information through a communication port 1508 and theinformation system may select the information to display through theswitch position. In an embodiment, the information system may receiveonly one type of information and the source or type of information maybe determined by the switch position. The switch position may also becommunicated to an information source to initiate communication of aninformation signal.

FIG. 17 illustrates an embodiment of the invention where a userinterface 1702 is used to determine the type of information to bedisplayed by the information system. The user interface may be a switch,dial, slider or any other type of interface. The user interface may be awired or wireless device. FIG. 18 illustrates yet another embodiment ofthe present invention where the selection of the type of information tobe displayed is generated through the position of the device within acradle or base. A cube may be associated with features 1808, forexample, and the base 1802 may be associated with receiving features1804. The patterns or other identifiers of the features may determinewhich information is to be displayed.

FIG. 19 illustrates another information system according to theprinciples of the present invention. The panels 1302 in this embodimentare triangular and positioned to overlap one another. The panels 1302may be edge lit, that is, the LEDs 1404 may be arranged to light thepanels by injecting light through one or more of the panel edges. Eachpanel 1302 may be lit with a different LED 1404 or set of LEDs 1404 suchthat each panel may be independently illuminated.

The present invention has been described through several illustrativeembodiments and these embodiments should not be used to limit theinvention. For example, while many of the embodiments described hereinindicate the processor and memory reside within a housing wherein theLEDs are also located, these elements may reside remote from theillumination device. A second processor may used to communicateinformation signals to the illumination system or a second processor maybe used to communicate control signals to the LEDs. A computer forexample may retrieve information from the World Wide Web and communicatescalar information to the information system. The computer may also beused to generate control signals to be communicated to an illuminationor information system.

Another embodiment of the present invention provides illumination forbacklighting of display screens, such as liquid crystal display panels.With the advent of high brightness LEDs, general illumination andillumination of objects with LEDs has become a viable, efficient,economic and long life solution in many applications. U.S. Pat. No.6,016,038 describes many methods and uses for LED display lighting andillumination control. This technology has also enabled the edge, back,surface and through lighting of materials with LEDs to produce brightillumination effects of objects. The effects can be used for lighting anobject with a solid color, changing the light intensity of the object,changing the objects color or the effects can take on a dynamic form ofcolor effects or coordinated color effects by and between separateobjects.

An object can be lit with one or more LEDs to provide illumination.Where one LED is used, the object may be lit with a single color withvarying intensity or the intensity may be fixed. In a preferredembodiment, the object being lit includes more than one LED and the LEDsare different colors. As discussed above, in a preferred embodiment, theLED control signals would be PWM signals generated by a microprocessorusing three LED channels with at least one LED per channel to generate16.7 million colors. This technique is described in U.S. Pat. No.6,016,038.

In an embodiment, disclosed herein is a monochrome-image LCD screen witha i s color changing backlighting system. The back lighting system couldbe used for illumination, increased contrast, providing information,ornamental purposes or any other reason. It would also be useful toprovide an LCD display with low cost and high-energy efficiency, alongwith the benefit of changing the color of the device.

Referring to FIG. 20, to provide a color changing back lighting system,two or more different colored LEDs may be provided. The LEDs may bedirected to illuminate the LCD screen 2002 from behind such that theenergized liquid-crystals block a portion of the light. As illustratedin FIG. 21, the LEDs 2106 may be arranged to light a second surface 2104such that the second surface appears evenly illuminated. This secondsurface 2104 may be positioned behind the LCD screen 2002 to provide asurface of backlighting. The second surface 2104 may be lit usingbacklighting, edge lighting, surface lighting, through lighting or otherlighting method.

In an embodiment, a controller 2108 is provided to control the LEDs andthe controller 2108 is associated with a program signal input 2110. Aprogram signal may be communicated to the program signal input. Theprogram signal may contain information for the lighting system. Thesignal may be in a digital or analog format. If the signal is in ananalog format, an A/D converter may be provided to convert the signal todigital. Upon receipt of a digital signal, the controller can initiatecontrol signals to the LEDs. In a preferred embodiment, the controlsignals are pulse width modulated signals that correspond to the programsignal. For example, the system may be provided with a memory forstoring lighting control signals and the memory may be associated withthe controller. The stored programs may represent particular programsignals such as a particular color, color changing effect or otherlighting condition. A program signal may be received indicating that theuser has selected the color blue as a background and the controllerwould activate the blue control signals to change the backlighting to ablue condition.

The system may include a user selector such as a button, dial, selectorswitch or other selector for initiating the desired program signals. Forexample, the system may have a button for stepping through severalprograms. Program names may be illustrated on the LCD screen or they maybe indicated elsewhere. In many applications, the LCD screen is part ofanother device that has buttons, screen activated selection or otherselector mechanisms. These selector mechanisms can also be used toprovide the program signals to the back lighting system. In otherdevices the LCD screen is separate from the device sending the programsignals and the program signals may be sent through electromagnetictransmission, RF transmission, IR transmission, microwave transmission,acoustic transmission, wire, cable, network or any other communicationsmethod.

In a preferred embodiment, the color changing back lighting system ispart of an LCD screen in a telephone. Many telephones include an LCDscreen as a portion of the user interface. As described hereinabove,these LCD screens are generally monochromatic with single coloredbacklighting systems. With this invention, the backlighting system couldbe used to provide pleasing color changing effects or to provideinformation. The telephone could be a telephone, phone, cellular phone,communication device, digital phone, analog phone, satellite phone, orany other type of telephone. The controller may have a program signalinput and the program signal may be provided through a button or otheruser interface. The program signal may also be communicated to the phonethrough the phones normal communications method. This transmission maybe a microwave transmission for a cellular phone or wire transmissionfor a land based phone or other communication transmission method. Theprogram signal could also be a separate transmission. The transmissionmay include information about an incoming calls origin (caller id) aswell as other information. The backlighting of the LCD screen couldchange colors to correspond to the caller id information or otherinformation received. For example, the backlighting system may beassociated with memory and the memory may be programmed with severallighting control programs. One of the lighting control programs may beto change the backlighting system red and another program to change thelighting to green. The user may load caller id information into thephone such that when a particular call is received the phone screenshould turn red, indicating the user should not answer the phone. Thisprovides a very fast and effective method of alerting the user of thecaller id without having to read the information on the screen. Thescreen could also change to green when the incoming call is from aperson the user has identified to provide information that the userwants to answer the phone. A particular number may also be programmed toprovide color-changing effects such as quickly changing the screenscolor from blue to red covering all of the colors in between.

The program input could also be associated with a sensor. The sensorcould provide a signal indicative of temperature or other condition andthis information could be translated to a color or color changing effectin the LCD screen. If the sensor provides an analog voltage signal, ananalog to digital converter could be provided to change the signal to adigital signal.

FIG. 22 illustrates an LED array 2202 that may be used to edge light aback lighting panel. The LEDs 2106 may be arranged in an alternatingfashion such as red, green, and then blue or any other arrangement toprovide color mixing of the projected light. This array may be attachedto one edge of the back lighting panel and a mirror or other reflectivesurface may be located on the opposite surface. One or more LED arraysmay be used on any given backlighting surface.

The caller id system could also be separate from a phone and could be astandalone device. The caller id system could be a lighted object ormaterial and is not limited to an LCD screen. For example, two or moredifferent colored LEDs could be provided to light a material,translucent material, semi-translucent material or any other materialthat will provide illumination or display of the colored light. Thesystem could include a controller for controlling the LEDs as well as aprogram signal input for receiving information. The information receivedcould include information regarding the origin of the caller and thisinformation could be used to change the color of the device. This typeof lighting device could be used as a decorative lamp as well as aninformation system. The lamp may be table mounted, ceiling mounted,floor mounted, wall mounted, a hand held device, a portable device orany other configuration. The system may be used for general illuminationand then the lamp may change colors to indicate the origin of the call.

The information received by the LCD backlighting system could be anykind of information. In a preferred embodiment, the information may beconverted into corresponding lighting control signals to provideinformation through a colored or color changing LCD screen. This couldbe used to display information regarding financial information,environmental information, status, timing, battery power, or any otherinformation. See related Provisional Applications from Color Kinetics,“Information System,” “Intelligent Indicators,” “Color Changing LCDScreens” and “LED Based Lighting Systems and Methods for Vehicles.” Oneexample of using the backlighting system as a source of information iswhen the user wants to monitor the value of a company's stock.Information regarding the stock price could be received by a cellulartelephone that is equipped with a color changing backlighting system.This information could then be converted into lighting control signalsto change the color of the backlighting system. The LCD screen may beginto flash green when the stock price has reached a predetermined highvalue or change to cyan when the volume is high. The screen could alsoslowly or quickly change colors to indicate the close of the stockexchange. These effects could be programmed into the lighting systemsuch that when information is received the lighting system activates thecorresponding lighting control signals from memory. The system couldalso be arranged to receive information in the form of lighting controlsignals to be sent to the LEDs for lighting control. Another methodwould be to receive signals that include lighting control information.This information could be decoded such that the lighting controlinformation is communicated to the lighting system and the otherinformation is communicated to another device.

The color changing LCD screen could be used to supplement or replaceother information systems. For example, when the telephone rings thecolored screen may change colors or flash different colors to indicatean incoming call. The ringer and vibrating system may also bedeactivated to allow a visual indication of the call. Another example ofa useful color changing display is when the color changing display isused in conjunction with a gaming system. The backlighting system maychange color in response to a received signal. The backlighting may alsochange colors to indicate that a certain level in the game has beenreached or that there is a dangerous predator lurking nearby. Thisprovides the user with another level of interaction to increase thepleasure derived from the gaming experience. A popular version of ahand-held gaming system is the Gameboy. This game includes amonochrome-image LCD and could be provided with a color changing backlighting system. The software that runs during the game could beprogrammed to change the color of the backlighting to suit particularsituations in the game. Also see attorney docket number CKC-30.60“Digital Entertainment II.” and attorney docket number CKC-12.06“Lighting Entertainment System.”

As would be obvious to a person skilled in the art, the color changingbacklighting system could be used wherever an LCD screen is usefulincluding in a telephone, phone, cellular phone, digital phone, analogphone, communication device, gaming device, portable gaming device,personal digital assistant, pager, calculator, portable device,computer, information device, information screen, display screen, MP3player, music player, CD player, DVD player, or other device.

Another embodiment disclosed herein is an information and illuminationsystem that serves as an indicator of a condition of a package,container or similar item. FIG. 23 illustrates a package 2302 with anintelligent package indicator 2304. The package indicator 2304 could beattached to any object including, but not limited to, a package, box,containers, containers for perishables, containers for blood, containersfor body parts, clothing, food, automobile, telephone, computer, goods,apparel or any other object. The indicator 2304 could include two ormore LEDs with a processor. The processor could control the LEDs througha pulse width modulated signal (PWM), through analog voltage control,through a resistor ladder, or any other control technique. Whencombinations of LEDs of two or more different colors are used, theillumination from each LED can mix with the others to project a combinedcolor. As discussed above, in a preferred embodiment, control circuitryusing PWM signals generated by a microprocessor using three LED channelswith at least one LED per channel can generate 16.7 million colors.

Referring to FIG. 24, in a preferred embodiment, a flow diagram 2400demonstrates the flow of steps by which a processor 2402 of theindicator would be capable of receiving program signals at a step 2404to change the color of the indicator at a step 2408. The program signalsmay come from a timing circuit, sensor, transducer, or any other devicefor generating program signals. In an embodiment, the input comes from asensor 2410. The program signals may represent conditions such as, butnot limited to, temperature, time, humidity, shock, vibration, noise,electrical signals, or electromagnetic signals. For example, a packagemay have a shelf life of three days so the package indicator may beequipped with a timing device to monitor the time the product sits on ashelf or is in transit. As the time period elapses, the color of theindicator may change. The indicator may be green during the first twelvehours and it may gradually change to red by the end of the third dayindicating the package contents may be spoiled. The indicator canintermittently light to conserve battery power. For example, theindicator may flash the color for a period of 0.1 seconds every fiveseconds. The indicator may also be equipped with a button or otherswitch to put it into a continuously lit mode or other mode for ease ofidentification. The customer may use this feature to better identify thecolor. Another example where the package indicator would be useful iswhere the package contents are not permitted to be exposed to elevatedor lower temperatures. A temperature-sensing device could be associatedwith the indicator and the indicator could change its color depending onthe temperature conditions during shipping. This could also be usefulfor shipments of perishable goods. The processor may further process andinterpret temperature data provided by a temperature sensor. Forexample, the processor may generate an ‘okay’ color, such as green, whenno temperature conditions have been violated, and may generate a ‘notokay’ color, such as red, when one or more temperature conditions havebeen violated. Temperature conditions may include a maximum temperature,as well as a maximum time-temperature determined through integration oftemperature measurements over time. For cold-sensitive materials, theprocessor may integrate all temperature measurements below somepredetermined minimum. Integrated temperature measurements may or maynot be additive, as in summing two different periods of elevatedtemperature, depending on the sensitivity of package contents totemperature variations. FIG. 24 illustrates a block diagram of how thepackage indicator may operate.

Different environmental conditions may be tracked together. For example,an elevated temperature may only be relevant, or may be weighteddifferently, depending on a concurrent humidity measurement. Airpressure may also be tracked, as where packages are shipped via airfreight. The processor may monitor for any combination and duration ofenvironmental conditions for sensors providing data to the processor.

The indicator may include a sensor for receiving external signals. Thereceiver may receive signals such as, but not limited to,electromagnetic, RF, IR, microwave, cable, wire, network or any othersignals. The package or the device being shipped may include atransmitter to transmit signals indicative of environmental conditions.Other devices may also have transmitters for transmitting signals to theindicator device. For example, the contents of a package may be equippedwith a transmitter. This transmitter may send signals to the indicatorto indicate the condition of the package. In another application, anexternal transmitter may send signals to the indicator to change theindicators program or to begin a retrieval process of storedinformation.

The indicator may be provided with memory to store information regardingshipping events or other events of interest. For example, temperaturedata may be stored indicating the temperature in thirty-minute intervalssince the package left the hands of the shipper. This information couldlater be retrieved to provide evidence of storage conditions.

There is also provided a method of maintaining warehouse inventory usingintelligent package indicators. The indicators can be aligned on thepackages in a warehouse such that the warehouse manager can visuallyinspect the indicators. With a very quick scan of the inventory on theshelf the manager may be able to tell which inventory is fresh and whichinventory needs to be processed quickly to prevent spoilage. Theindicators can also include infrared LEDs to allow for stealthmonitoring of the packages. This may be useful to prevent a customerfrom drawing conclusions based upon visual indicators. The infraredsignals could be viewable through an IR reading optical device or anyother device used for viewing IR signals. The IR signals could also betransmitted as data to be received by another device. This would allowthe indicator to communicate with another device such as, but notlimited to, a handheld device.

The device may also have an interface for resetting the indicator whenthe product is placed for retail sale. A button, or other interfacedevice, may be used to set the indicator into customer mode. This mayallow for certain shipping parameters to be met and then, once shippingis complete, allow for reset of the indicator into a customer mode wherea retail clock is started.

The device may be realized using a single LED for indicating thecondition of the package. In this example, red may mean that a packageis not okay and green may mean that package is okay. Additional LEDs maybe used to indicate other conditions. For example, a yellow LED may beprovided to indicate that some specified environmental conditions havebeen marginally exceeded. A row of LEDs may be provided to indicate timeleft before expiration of a packaged good. The processor may alsoprovide binary coded decimal or alphanumeric LED display driver outputto display a number. The number may be indicative of, for example, aquality level (such as between 0 and 100), a time to expiration in weeksor days, or an expiration date that is based upon some combination oftime and other environmental conditions.

While the invention has been disclosed in connection with theembodiments shown and described in detail, various equivalents,modifications, and improvements will be apparent to one of ordinaryskill in the art from the above description. Such equivalents,modifications, and improvements are intended to be encompassed by theclaims set forth hereinafter.

1. A method of providing a light-based indicator system for indicating acondition of an item, comprising: providing an illumination system forproviding illumination suitable for conveying information and capable ofreceiving input from an information system, the illumination systemcomprising (i) a first LED adapted to produce first light having a firstspectrum, and (ii) a second LED adapted to produce second light having asecond spectrum, the first spectrum being different than the secondspectrum, and the first LED and second LED being arranged to permitcombining of the first light and the second light; and providing aninformation system for providing input to the illumination system;wherein the information system provides information about the item andthe illumination system is controlled to provide at least threedifferent colors of illumination that indicate the information, whereinthe information system stores first information for controllingillumination prior to an item being displayed for retail purposes andsecond information for controlling illumination when the item is beingdisplayed for retail purposes.
 2. A method of claim 1, wherein the firstinformation controls illumination to indicate shipping information of anitem and the second information controls illumination to provide anaesthetic feature for the item.
 3. A package indicator comprising: atleast one LED comprising multiple semiconductor dies capable of emittingat least first light having a first spectrum and second light having asecond spectrum, the first spectrum being different than the secondspectrum, the first light and the second light being independentlycontrollable such that at least three different colors may be generatedby the at least one LED; a controller for generating and communicatingcontrol signals to the at least one LED wherein the controller isassociated with a program input for receiving signals indicative of acondition of a package; and at least one of a sensor, transducer, timer,receiver, signal generator, wherein the at least one of a sensor,transducer, timer, receiver, signal generator communicates the signalsto the program input, wherein the at least three different colorsgenerated by the at least one LED relate to the condition of thepackage.
 4. A system for indicating a condition of an item, comprising:an illumination system for providing illumination suitable for conveyinginformation and capable of receiving input from an information system,the illumination system comprising (i) a first LED adapted to producefirst light having a first spectrum, and (ii) a second LED adapted toproduce second light having a second spectrum, the first spectrum beingdifferent than the second spectrum, and the first LED and second LEDbeing arranged to permit combining of the first light and the secondlight; and the information system for providing input to theillumination system; wherein the information system provides informationabout the item and the illumination system is controlled to provide atleast three different colors of illumination that indicate theinformation.
 5. A system of claim 4, wherein the item is a package andthe illumination system indicates information about the condition of thepackage.
 6. A system of claim 4, wherein the item is a container and theillumination indicates information about the container.
 7. A system ofclaim 6, wherein the item is a container for an item selected from thegroup consisting of a body part, an organ, a tissue, blood, plasma, aliquid, an organic liquid, clothing, a food, apparel, a battery-operateditem, a computer, a phone, a beverage, a beer, a soft drink, a wine, analcoholic beverage, a perishable item, a fruit, a vegetable, a meat, adry good, a cereal, a grain, a tobacco, an animal, and a plant.
 8. Asystem of claim 4, wherein the condition is selected from the groupconsisting of age, elapsed time, exposure to temperatures, exposure toradiation, exposure to a microbe, exposure to a bacterium, exposure to avirus, exposure to heat, exposure to cold, exposure to moisture,exposure to pressure, exposure to acceleration, exposure to forces,exposure to vibration, exposure to light, exposure to shock, exposure toelectricity, exposure to sound, exposure to humidity, and exposure tomagnetism.
 9. A system of claim 8, wherein the illumination systemcontrols lighting elements by pulse width modulation.
 10. A system ofclaim 4, wherein the illumination system indicates exposure of a packagefor a perishable item to an environmental condition.
 11. A system ofclaim 10, wherein the environmental condition is heat.
 12. A system ofclaim 11, wherein the environmental condition is passage of an amount oftime in excess of a selected amount of time.
 13. A system of claim 4,wherein the illumination system gradually changes to a selected colorwith the passage of time.
 14. A system of claim 13, wherein theillumination system changes to red with passage of time.
 15. A system ofclaim 4, wherein the illumination system changes illumination toindicate exposure to temperatures that exceed a predetermined acceptablerange.
 16. A system of claim 4, wherein the information system tracks aplurality of environmental conditions and the illumination systemilluminates the item to reflect the different environmental conditions.17. A system of claim 4, further comprising a sensor for receivingsignals to supply the information system with information.
 18. A systemof claim 4, further comprising providing a transmitter for transmittinginformation from the information, system about the item.
 19. A system ofclaim 4, wherein the information system obtains information aboutshipping events and wherein the illumination system indicatesinformation about shipping events.
 20. A system of claim 4, wherein theillumination system provides illumination for reflecting informationuseful for maintaining inventory in a facility.
 21. A system forindicating a condition of an item, comprising: an illumination systemfor providing illumination suitable for conveying information andcapable of receiving input from an information system, the illuminationsystem comprising (i) a first LED adapted to produce first light havinga first spectrum, and (ii) a second LED adapted to produce second lighthaving a second spectrum, the first spectrum being different than thesecond spectrum, and the first LED and second LED being arranged topermit combining of the first light and the second light; and theinformation system for providing input to the illumination system;wherein the information system provides information about the item andthe illumination system is controlled to provide at least threedifferent colors of illumination that indicate the information, whereinthe information system stores first information for controllingillumination prior to an item being displayed for retail purposes andsecond information for controlling illumination when the item is beingdisplayed for retail purposes.
 22. A system of claim 21, wherein thefirst information controls illumination to indicate shipping informationof an item and the second information controls illumination to providean aesthetic feature for the item.
 23. A method of providing anindicator for a package, comprising: providing a first LED adapted toproduce first light having a first spectrum; providing a second LEDadapted to produce second light having a second spectrum, the firstspectrum being different than the second spectrum; generating andcommunicating control signals to the first LED and second LED inresponse to at least one input signal indicative of at least oneenvironmental condition associated with the package; and controlling thefirst LED and the second LED, in response to the at least one inputsignal, to produce at least three different perceivable colors of lightbased on the at least one environmental condition.
 24. A method ofproviding a package indicator comprising: providing at least one LEDcomprising multiple semiconductor dies capable of emitting at leastfirst light having a first spectrum and second light having a secondspectrum, the first spectrum being different than the second spectrum;communicating control signals to the at least one LED indicative of atleast one environmental condition associated with a package; andcontrolling the at least one LED in response to the control signals toproduce at least three different perceivable colors of light.
 25. Amethod of providing a light-based indicator system for indicating acondition of an item, comprising: providing an illumination system forproviding illumination suitable for conveying information and capable ofreceiving input from an information system, the illumination systemcomprising (i) a first LED adapted to produce first light having a firstspectrum, and (ii) a second LED adapted to produce second light having asecond spectrum, the first spectrum being different than the secondspectrum, and the first LED and second LED being arranged to permitcombining of the first light and the second light; and providing aninformation system for providing input to the illumination system;wherein the information system provides information about the item andthe illumination system is controlled to provide at least threeperceivable different colors of illumination that indicate theinformation.
 26. A method of claim 25, wherein the item is a package andthe illumination system indicates information about the condition of thepackage.
 27. A method of claim 25, wherein the item is a container andthe illumination indicates information about the container.
 28. A methodof claim 27, wherein the item is a container for an item selected fromthe group consisting of a body part, an organ, a tissue, blood, plasma,a liquid, an organic liquid, clothing, a food, apparel, abattery-operated item, a computer, a phone, a beverage, a beer, a softdrink, a wine, an alcoholic beverage, a perishable item, a fruit, avegetable, a meat, a dry good, a cereal, a grain, a tobacco, an animal,and a plant.
 29. A method of claim 25, wherein the condition is selectedfrom the group consisting of age, elapsed time, exposure totemperatures, exposure to radiation, exposure to a microbe, exposure toa bacterium, exposure to a virus, exposure to heat, exposure to cold,exposure to moisture, exposure to pressure, exposure to acceleration,exposure to forces, exposure to vibration, exposure to light, exposureto shock, exposure to electricity, exposure to sound, exposure tohumidity, and exposure to magnetism.
 30. A method of claim 29, whereinthe illumination system controls lighting elements by pulse widthmodulation.
 31. A method of claim 25, wherein the illumination systemindicates exposure of a package for a perishable item to anenvironmental condition.
 32. A method of claim 31, wherein theenvironmental condition is heat.
 33. A method of claim 31, wherein theenvironmental condition is passage of an amount of time in excess of aselected amount of time.
 34. A method of claim 25, wherein theillumination system gradually changes to a selected color with thepassage of time.
 35. A method of claim 34, wherein the illuminationsystem changes to red with passage of time.
 36. A method of claim 25,wherein the illumination system changes illumination to indicateexposure to temperatures that exceed a predetermined acceptable range.37. A method of claim 25, wherein the information system tracks aplurality of environmental conditions and the illumination systemilluminates the item to reflect the different environmental conditions.38. A method of claim 25, further comprising providing a sensor forreceiving signals to supply the information system with information. 39.A method of claim 25, further comprising providing a transmitter fortransmitting information from the information system about the item. 40.A method of claim 25, wherein the information system obtains informationabout shipping events and wherein the illumination system indicatesinformation about shipping events.
 41. A method of claim 25, wherein theillumination system provides illumination for reflecting informationuseful for maintaining inventory in a facility.
 42. A package indicatorcomprising: a first LED adapted to produce first light having a firstspectrum; a second LED adapted to produce second light having a secondspectrum, the first spectrum being different than the second spectrum,the first LED and second LED being arranged to permit combining of thefirst light and the second light; and a controller for generating andcommunicating control signals to the first LED and the second LED,wherein the controller is configured to respond to at least one inputsignal indicative of at least one environmental condition associatedwith a package, the controller further being configured to control thefirst LED and the second LED such that the indicator is capable ofproducing at least three different perceivable colors of light based onthe at least one environmental condition associated with the package.